Prior to an astonishing hill coming out of Settle, we ate a lovely lunch at the New Inn in Clapham, in the Craven district of North Yorkshire. The lunch itself was high quality and we were very grateful to the staff at the New Inn for letting us faff about with our bikes before the huge hill out of Settle. For a combination of the above reasons I must recommend this charming place.
The Ploughman’s lunch was absolutely lovely but a little too ambitious for us. We were cycling machines at this point and had had a fulsome breakfast which did not leave much room for an extravagant lunch. Nonetheless we ate at least 60% of this delicious dish. I should say the Wensleydale was a little dry for my taste.
Nick opted for the ham and cheese panini which I understand was wholly satisfactory. I went for the pastrami, pickle and mayo panini which was excellent. Pastrami has quite a unique flavour including smoke, spicy black pepper, and the sweet citrus tang of coriander. The original process involved placing meat in saddle bags, where it was pressed by the riders’ legs as they rode. Thankfully Health and Safety have since frowned upon this practice.
Overall this was a lovely lunch break and very welcoming place. I understand one can book a room there which we may choose to do down the line. I am most grateful to the staff for allowing us to tinker with our bikes (outside of the view of fellow diners it should be added, which made the bitter hill out of Settle less frightening.
See below a photograph taken on a road being newly relayed. I did not realise how newly until my tyres were coated in yellow paint (which dries very quickly indeed). A minor set back saw us slightly delayed into Grassington but more on that in a later post, perhaps.
